Last Action Hero?

“We are sending the world a message. What we are saying is that we are going to change the dynamic on greenhouse gas and carbon emissions. We are taking action ourselves. We are not waiting for anyone.”

This is the message that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered this week as he travelled to Ontario for meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger, who has just slightly less nicknames than reporters hanging off of him (the Terminator, the Governator, the Green Giant, etc.), announced that California would require a 10 percent reduction in carbon content from all fuels and an 18 percent reduction in C02 emissions from passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2020. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions will be rolled back to 1990 levels by 2020, and reduced a further 80 percent by 2050.

Even environmentalists like Keith Stewart, a climate change analyst with WWF Canada, are taking him seriously, saying that, “he’s turned out to be a surprisngly good politician.” (Toronto Star, May 31, 2007).

However, he also has a large number of critics, especially in the auto industry who are unhappy with his fuel-efficiency measures. In Michigan, “billboards have emerged claiming Schrwarzenegger is trying to kill the Detroit auto industry with California’s new emissions rules.

Schwarzenegger said the message to Michigan, one that could easily apply to Ontario, is: “Get off your butt.”

Explaining his statement, the Governator added, “We are probably doing more to save US auto makers than anyone else because we are pushing them to make the changes necessary”, adding that “California wants to use its economic clout to make the auto industry more globally competitive while improving the environment.” (Toronto Star, May 31, 2007)

The highlight of the Governator's trip was when McGuinty and Schwarzenegger sat side by side and signed deals to reduce carbon content from all fuels by 2020 and to bolster funding for stem cell research. Unfortunately, McGuinty refused to sign on to California’s auto emissions standards, demonstrating a disappointing lack of leadership.

Standing next to Scharzenegger, Premier McGuinty looked weak and timid on environmental issues.

But, perhaps Dalton McGuinty can be forgiven, considering the man standing next to him was the driving force behind some of the most progressive environmental legislation in the history of North America, and also the star of numerous Hollywood blockbusters, including the 1993 action-comedy, Last Action Hero.

Clearly the Governor of California is not waiting for action.

For the Green Party, we are also not waiting for action. We are taking action now to provide leadership on environmental issues in Ontario.

The Green Party of Ontario is advocating for fuel efficiency and emissions standards higher than California for cars and trucks, and the use of more efficient bulk transportation methods such as rail. To encourage cleaner transportation choices, the Green Party would shift provincial taxes from gas and tolls to a levy on crude oil used in the province. Taxes on resources are most effective when applied early in the manufacturing process, as they encourage innovation, efficiency, and alternatives.

Action on the environment begins and ends with what Schwarzenegger calls “active optimism, as guilt is getting us nowhere.”

I believe that active optimism starts with building an ecological economy including a green auto industry based on higher fuel efficiency and emission standards, and a plan for Ontario’s auto industry to shift towards manufacturing fuel-efficient cars and creating long-term environmental goals to ensure global competitiveness.

Church and state

Last Tuesday, I went to see an amazing band from Montreal, the Arcade Fire, at the legendary Massey Hall, a venue noted for its rich history, which dates back all the way to 1894.

Some of the more famous figures that have graced the stage include Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bob Dylan.

However, on Tuesday night, Massey Hall was home to the Arcade Fire.

Not too long into the set, lead singer Win Butler sarcastically uttered “rest in peace, Jerry Falwell,” before launching into a song titled “Antichrist Television Blues.”

It was a powerful moment.

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1933, Falwell was an American fundamentalist Christian pastor and televangelist. In 1971 he founded Liberty University, an evangelical Christian university, and in 1979, formed the Moral Majority, an conservative Christian advocacy group that campaigned to outlaw abortion and opposed the recognition and acceptance of homosexuality.

In 1965, he gave a sermon criticizing Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. In the 1980s Falwell was critical of sanctions against the Apartheid regime of South Africa, and called Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu a phony “as far as representing the black people of South Africa.”

In addition, in 1972, the US Securities Exchange Commission charged Falwell’s church with “fraud and deceit” in the issuance of $6.5 million in unsecured church bonds. And who could forget Reverend Falwell’s claim in 1999 that a Teletubbies character, Tinky Winky, was a hidden homosexual symbol.

To be clear, I am not celebrating the death of Reverend Falwell. In fact, I am very sympathetic to his family who must be grieving a huge loss.

However, I think the passing of Jerry Falwell gives us an opportunity to reflect on some of his more controversial policies, such as his attack on the seperation of church and state.

Falwell’s fundamentalist movement wanted the ten commandments posted in all schools, the teaching of intelligent design, opposed evolution, and advocated for the building of more Christian schools across the country.

Here in Ontario, the issue of the seperation of the church and state has primarily revolved around education. The provincial government has continued to fund Catholic schools, ignoring a 1999 UN ruling to end educational discrimination and the decisions by Quebec and Newfoundland to move back to single, publicly funded schools.

It's time to bring our education into the 21st century, starting with a confederated or unified school system that would allow for different types of schools in each jurisdiction. Trustees representing various religious and secular groups woud be part of one unified public body responsible for ensuring that the diverse types of schools follow a core curriculum that reflects Ontario’s values.

Local boards of education would be required to offer a choice of schooling options dependent on the needs of their communities and wishes of parents. Schooling options would range from those currently offered to religious schooling, and alternative models. Each board would ensure schools maintain high educational standards and offer a diversity of learning opportunities.

Independent schools would still exist outside the confederated school board system, but will not receive funding or tax rebates. The revenue saved would be reinvested back into our public system, allowing for the implementation of nutrition and outdoor education programs, smaller classes, more consellors, and other services that are lacking in our schools today.

Ontario should have smaller, community-oriented boards, that would ensure that special needs students don’t fall through the cracks and allow for more flexibility in serving the needs of local students as defined by geography, ethnicity, and lifestyle.

One-size-all is not working. Northern Ontario has high transportation costs while Toronto has high ESL needs. Unchecked support for any type of school without ensuring adherence to standard curriculum and Canadian values of tolerance and respect for other cultures, allows for a divisive system that breeds hate and intolerance.

Confederated or unified school boards, which have been endorsed by Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation, would provide funding for all different types of schools, but under the public umbrella and using public school teachers and standard curriculum.

The funding of Catholic schools is a policy that is still stuck in the 19th century, and its not working.

So, rest in peace Jerry Falwell. Rest in peace hate, fundamentalism, and intolerance.